Ebony Vaz

About Ebony Vaz

Helping brands dominate, share new products, and overcome crises using storytelling, science, and technology. As the Founder of Above Promotions, a marketing tech, publicity, and promotions company, a marketing instructor, and the author of the book titled,\"Because You\'re Small: Effective Marketing Strategies for Immediate Implementation\" brands look to Ebony Vaz for solutions to challenging problems. You may have seen her featured on MSNBC.com, Food and Wine, Social Media Today, BizBash, AdWeek, PR Daily, Yahoo.com, the Retail Customer Experience, NewsOne.com, and other publications, panels, and conferences or as a contributor for Moguldom, or teaching marketing strategies and tools for many organizations and conferences year-round. She is frequently invited to speak on emerging technology for marketing and public relations strategies, crisis communication issues, emphasizing cybersecurity, consumer psychology and research, marketing trends, startup ecosystems, and STEM and diversity. Ebony leads colleagues across the U.S. through online groups focused on crisis communication topics and creative services for the business community. She continuously gives back to her local community by organizing and volunteering at Techstars Tampa Bay Startup Week, Hospitality Hackathon, Ignite Tampa Bay, Bar Camp, and the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists. Additionally, Ebony is also a Board Director for InfraGard Tampa Bay, Impact Board Member for Synapse Florida, serves on the Pasco EDC Global Coalition Committee, Advisor for Pasco County Career & Technical Education, USF College of Education Cybersecurity Advisory Board member, Small Business Development Center Expert Consultant, Tampa Bay Smart Cities Alliance member and is a Venture Deals Kauffman Fellows Academy and Techstars participant and judge startup pitch competitions throughout the year.

Experience

1. Pr and Marketing Track Captain and Organizer

   Tampa Bay Startup Week

   Oct 2016 — Present · Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL, US

Education

• University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business

  Certificate, Business Administration/Negotiations

  2009 — 2009

• ROI Institute

  Certificate, ROI Methodology

  2007 — 2007

• Kauffman Fellowship Academy and Techstars

  Venture Deals

  2018

• Villanova University

  Masters Certificate, Organizational Leadership

  2003 — 2006

• University of Central Florida

  Bachelor of Science (BS), Industrial Engineering

  1995 — 2001

• University of Texas at Austin - Knight Center of Journalism in the Americas

  Certificate of Completion, Data Visualization for Storytelling and Discovery

  2018 — 2018

• Harvard University

  Continuing Education Course, Systematic Approaches to Policy Design

  2020 — 2020